Australian Information Industry Association
Where is your innovation making a difference?
Whether you're an individual, organisation or a student with an innovation that is solving a problem, there's a category for you!
Student Categories
There are three student iAwards categories to support our young Australian innovatoes including junior, senior and undergraduate tertiary students.
These categories are open to students attending schools, universities, TAFE and other relevant tertiary courses run by Registered Training Organisations (RTOs). Postgraduate Tertiary students should nominate in the main iAwards Organisation Categories.
Junior Students
For the most outstanding ICT project undertaken by a student or group of students who are studying up to/including year 9.
Senior Students
For the most outstanding ICT project undertaken by a student or group of students who are in the last three years of secondary education.
Undergraduate Tertiary Students
For the most outstanding project undertaken by an undergraduate tertiary student or group of students enrolled with a registered tertiary institution.
Organisational Categories
An innovation could be making change across multiple industry markets. Therefore, organisational entries are eligible to select a maximum of three award categories. You must choose one Primary Category, and additionally you can select one Cross Industry Category and/or Cross-Technology.This diagram may aid your understanding of the category structure. Familarise yourself with the terms and conditions to see what is applicable to you.
Core Categories
Consumer Category
For Digital projects, products and services that target consumers across all markets.
Consumer focused industries are fast moving and highly competitive. Digital innovation enables economic participants to respond rapidly to market requirements, bypassing limitations including, for example, in production and logistics.
Sample market sectors – Retail, Media, Entertainment, Arts and Culture, Gaming, Tourism, Banking, Insurance & Finance (Retail), Real estate (Retail)
Community Services Category
For Digital projects, products and services that target niche markets in order to break down the barriers that prevent some members of the community from fully participating in (and contributing to) society.
Sample market sectors – Regional, Rural and Remote Services, eLearning, Health and Wellbeing, Veterinarian Services, Sustainability and Environment, NGOs, Disability Sector, Sport
Industrial & Primary Industries Category
For solutions that deliver automation through the integration of systems, technologies and processes in the commodities sector.
Industrial activity is focussed on next generation improvement, supporting the development and competitiveness of the marketplace. Digital productivity is core to optimising processes, reducing costs and to developing new product offerings.
Sample market sectors - Agriculture; Mining; Oil & Gas; Energy; Manufacturing; Construction; Transport; Utilities
Business Services
For Digital B-2-B solutions that drive and deliver businesses with high levels of productivity and competitiveness.
The business services market is truly global and needs Digital solutions to ensure they can compete in real time across international boundaries and regulatory systems.
Sample market sectors - Banking; Finance; Legal; Accounting; Architecture; HR; Administrative Services; Professional Services
Public Sector and Government
For Digital projects that deliver the digitisation of citizen services and improve efficiencies in the machinery of government. Solutions will be developed by government or government in collaboration with industry partners.
The Government iAward is presented for outstanding ICT innovation dedicated to delivering improved government service delivery or other Digital initiatives for the public.
Sample market sectors - Health; Human services; Education; Justice & Police; Emergency Services; Defence; Taxation; Border Protection
Cross Technology Categories
Infrastructure & Platform Innovation of the Year
For solutions which enable the management/creation of hardware/software infrastructure and platforms that are integral to the success of providing stable and economical environments on which to build efficient operating platforms for all sectors of business, industry and personal life.
This category can include infrastructure applications in areas as diverse as blockchain, IoT and security.
The integration of existing legacy systems with state of the art technologies hosted on both on premise and cloud infrastructure are critical in enabling big data (encompassing data analytics and business intelligence reporting) and mobility to flourish. This ensures systems reliably deliver functionality required by business.
Big Data Innovation of the Year
For solutions which utilise large volumes of data – both structured and unstructured – that result in strategic analysis and better decisions. This category includes analytics solutions and Internet of Things solutions.
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
Artificial intelligence is intelligence exhibited by machines or intelligent agents to optimize one or more goals. It applies to any device that learns or applies adaptive solutions to improve performance over time. The traditional problems (or goals) of AI include reasoning, knowledge, planning, learning, natural language processing, perception and the ability to move and manipulate objects.
Cross Stage Categories
Research & Development Project of the Year
For outstanding Digital Research & Development (including postgraduate tertiary student research).
Startup of the Year
For outstanding Digital innovation by a company in the start-up phase of development.
To be eligible for the Startup Award the organisation must meet the following criteria:
- The organisation was registered as a company on or after 1 January 2015;
- The founder of the company and/or the product developers must still be the significant shareholder(s) of the company; and
- The company must not be a subsidiary of a well-established parent company.
This will be checked with ASIC prior to judging.
Terms and Conditions
One submission fee entitles an applicant to enter into a maximum of three (3) award categories; the fee is the same regardless of whether you enter into one, two or three categories. This entitlement is based on the condition that one category is selected from the 'core categories', one is selected from the 'cross-technology categories' and/or one is selected from the 'cross-industry categories'. Entry into one of the core categories is mandatory; entry into either of the cross categories is optional. An innovation does not need to win a Core Category award to be eligible for a Cross Category award. For full Terms and Conditions, please click here.